who has accused his former best friend of involvement in the drugs trade and in several murders, told a federal court in Brooklyn that he intended to kill the alleged Mob boss because he believed he had gone “soft”.

He broke the Mafia’s code of silence ahead of giving full testimony in Mr Gotti’s trial later this year. The alleged head of New York’s Gambino crime family has pleaded not guilty to murder charges and cocaine trafficking

Mr Alite, has admitted he is a “rat” for agreeing to participate in the trial, claims to have become friends with Mr Gotti after sharing profits with him from the drugs trade in the 1980s. But his Albanian origins and lacking Sicilian blood meant that he could never rise up the ranks to become a “made man”.

He claimed that when he was refused permission to kill Mr Gotti’s brother in law for beating up his wife – with whom Mr Alite had a relationship – he decided to kill Mr Gotti instead.